Welcome to the podcast of our enlightening conversation on “International School Times Global” with John Montgomery, an academic consultant with nearly 50 years of experience in education. In this episode, we explore his transition from classroom teaching to educational consulting, offering a deep dive into the nuances of preparing students for college admissions, particularly in the context of Japan’s increasingly international educational environment. Learn about the importance of understanding students holistically, the trends shaping education today, and practical advice for parents and students alike.
John Montgomery MA.Ed., the founder of Global Educational Partners, has been consulting children and families to find schools that best match their needs for 33 years. He is currently the only official IECA member in Japan. He has taken time and effort to bring comfort to over 300 families by finding appropriate schools for their children. He has taught and supported hundreds of children of Japanese families, as well as multi-national families, and seen them grow up to become successful professionals and internationally minded parents. His passion and drive have always been our incentive to establish our company and spread international education in Japan and the world. His dedication towards academic excellence has resulted in sending over 300 students to boarding schools and colleges abroad. The number continues to grow each year.
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Transcript
John Montgomery: …and because I tell them all the time, if they’re applying to, their children are young and applying to a K-6 school or something, or K-6 program an elementary program or primary program -what they’re going to experience in any good program, whether it’s a PYP/IB type of related programs or just more of an American program or a Canadian program, it is pretty much the same things. If it’s a stable school they’re going there to to learn to be away from their parents a little bit to interact with other children, to listen to the teacher, to get excited about learning new things, and playing with others. And beginning to start learning the basics for literacy and numeracy and try art and other things.
Intro: [Music]
Ivan Fedoroff: Welcome to International School Times Global. My name is Ivan Fedoroff. We’re here with John Montgomery, Academic Consultant. Welcome John.
John Montgomery: Well, thank you. I’m glad to be here.
Ivan Fedoroff: You have been an academic consultant for over 30 years. I think this is going to be a very interesting podcast because it’s a gives parents and communities a chance to kind of see the inside part of what you do and the world that you are a part of. Why don’t you tell us a bit about your background and what’s brought you into academic consulting?
John Montgomery: Yes. You know originally I’ve always, well, I’ve always been a teacher. I retired from regular teaching about six, six years ago. But I started 45 years ago, more than 45, almost 50 years ago in California.
And then I came to Japan and continued and taught in international school as a middle school teacher, history teacher. So I didn’t start as an educational consultant, but I found, like you say, over 30 years ago, I found that some of my students I had taught that we had moved on to high school were coming back to visit me and asking me if I would support them in their, um, The admissions processes to some of the universities and colleges they were applying to because they felt their guidance counselors just didn’t suit them, um, didn’t understand them very well.
They were usually Japanese or mixed students, international students, and they felt I had understood them. I had helped them find their high school so they, they felt wanted to see whether I’d be willing to help them go through the college university admissions process guiding them.
Ivan Fedoroff: What do you think is the most important skill or quality for an educational consultant to have?
You did mention guidance counselors. And I think, I have my own personal experiences in the past with them. And, um, what are you think, what do you think are the important, important qualities that would make someone who’s helping kids get into schools, good qualities to have.
John Montgomery: Well, and I, and I want to qualify what I said.
I’ve known some good guidance, counselors, but I must say, at least here in the international schools, I’ve met quite a few that the kids were unhappy with, for one reason or another. But, um, you know, to be a good guidance counselor, you have to understand young people and their families and the kind of, um, goals they have and pressures they’re under.
And I think that sometimes the guidance counselors may not have been, teachers for very long or at all. And they have kind of a specialized job where they know. The higher education’s seen very well and what’s available and what it takes to get into these schools. But really when it comes down to working with a child, um, and their family, and they’re under the kind of pressure they are to get into some of these competitive schools, you really have to know, you have to have spent time with students in these schools academic situation, situations where they, they’re struggling and need, need support and advice and the parents need support and advice. And as a teacher, of course, that’s what you do all the time. Um, so I think, you know, a guidance counselor who has some background in that is going to make a much more effective and, um, You know, the kind of counselor that the students and families are looking for.
Ivan Fedoroff: What types of schools or organizations do you typically work with? And what’s the primary focus of your consulting?
John Montgomery: Okay, I did work for a long time, as I said, with students, coming back and asking me for help to go to, higher, higher education, to universities and colleges. And those, and those, in those days, 30 years, 20 years ago, it was almost entirely, the United States, although I helped the few with Canada and maybe Britain, but I was, I specialized in the States as an American.
Um, And, um, I soon joined, what’s the largest, association of, independent educational consultants in the world, actually, in America, called the IECA, Independent Educational Consultants Association. And I’ve been in that, with that group for about 20 years, and they’re great. They share a lot of information.
They have conferences, which I don’t myself of very often because it’s difficult to get over to the U.S., but I do see the information that, um, is shared on the internet by other consultants, and it helps. And, they also asked me to take an oath that I will only work toward the best interests of the student and the family and not, for example, to try to sell a particular school, it might give me a kickback or something.
So that’s, I think, helpful. Um, but I, now I am working, with boarding schools for kids that are high school bound. And that came out of me being a middle school teacher. It was a natural. And at my own school, international school, I started, um, taking that responsibility over of helping, the ninth grade, our oldest students, find, high schools.
So that, I started doing probably as much as I did with high schools. And then recently, since I retired, I’ve been working with, um, Families of very young children, sometimes preschool, trying to get into international schools here in Japan. Um, or Japanese families trying to find schools that they could move their, their children over to from the Japanese system as there’s some movement, there’s some interest in that, that has grown. Um, and so I, that’s quite, quite a bit different than helping kids find, boarding schools or, colleges and universities, so that has broadened my work.
Ivan Fedoroff: And it seems like things have evolved, especially here in Japan, where the typical international school a graduate would look overseas for, um, opportunities, um, the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, um, but more and more there seems to be that the Japanese universities seem to be more and more open to international school students. They have more and more English programs.
What do you think are some of the pros and cons of, um, applying to, Japanese schools? And, um, can you even explain a bit the shift and evolution that, um, seems to be happening here?
John Montgomery: Yeah. Yes, that happened in the last 15, 20 years. 20 years, especially the last, maybe 10 years, last decade. Um, yes, and it is, it was different than the, than the early years I did my work because it, they wouldn’t, these students wouldn’t even come to me if they weren’t interested in going overseas and they wanted to go off into elite, very competitive schools.
And so, um, it’s been, a number of reasons, I believe. One is, you know, American, U.S. universities and colleges are extremely expensive. And, with the cost of living there on top of tuition, it’s almost prohibitive. So, that has, you know, pushed lots of Japanese families to consider something else. And, um, now that Japanese universities have started offering programs in English, um, and are more typically like the liberal arts programs in the, in the States, like Waseda’s four year programs, or, of course, Sophia and I see you have been around a long time, but these, these programs and these new schools that have, um, popped up all over Japan with academic programs in English, um, have, you know, given a great alternative to these parents because they don’t, obviously they don’t cost near as much as, um, the ones in the States do their counterparts in the States. And of course they don’t have to go overseas necessarily. If they were living in Tokyo, they could live at home and attend these programs. So that’s been a huge factor is the cost and the availability, but also some of them, the schools have tried to make them relevant to what a Japanese student might learn or need to learn, um, to be competitive in the job market and the skills they have, you know, more so than maybe an American liberal arts institution which owes nothing to the Japanese employment market.
And so they’ve geared their programs more to that and, you know, engineering or whatever it is. So all of those factors. And, and then of course, sometimes, um, the prospect of sending your child so far away and to, um, places that seem a little bit less than, safe at times with some of the problems that happen in the U.S. and maybe elsewhere.
All of these things have contributed to this, growth in domestic, higher education programs here, you know, domestic.
Ivan Fedoroff: And it seems like a lot of these schools in Japan also give you the opportunity to still take one year as a transfer abroad and, still very, very reasonably priced. So it seems to be a, a quite a good balance and, good offer for, um, potential applicants.
John Montgomery: Yeah, I would think that every one of those, at least I’ve heard of, offers a year abroad, at least, because that’s something, it’s a great selling point. And it also is a good opportunity for the student to, um, experience something else, um, and mature and be on their own for a year. And so that, yes, I mean, they’ve always, that’s always been available through schools like Sophia, which have relationships with, schools in America and overseas but Waseda and Keio, they all have relationships and they’ll send their kids, their students over for, offer them a year abroad.
Ivan Fedoroff: Would an international school graduate who does end up choosing a Japanese university for undergrad, um, does it make it more difficult for them if they wish to go overseas for grad school or med school or, programs after graduation?
John Montgomery: I mean, lots and lots of Japanese do that and go to graduate school overseas. You have to do some preparation and you have to be very careful about fulfilling all the requirements that you’re going to need to get into a graduate school in the U.S. because you’re coming from an institution that is not Japanese typically set up to to support you in that, um, like the liberal arts schools in America or the, the bigger universities, they, they have, they support you a lot in making sure you fulfilled all those requirements. But it. They do it all the time. Med school and maybe law school is a little bit different because you have licensing and certification that you have to qualify for.
And you have to be careful about that, but it, it is all possible.
Ivan Fedoroff: So, maybe what kind of parents, um, typically, look for services such as yours? Is it, very driven, goal oriented families, or is it families just want what’s best for their kids and really don’t know where to start, so they just want extra help?
John Montgomery: Both. Um, it used to be, because I was dealing with higher education, universities and colleges. driven ones that chose America because they read, they saw the rankings and they, they wanted their kids to have a chance to go to an Ivy league and name school that they thought would make a difference in their career or their later life.
Um, but now that I’m working with, um, younger families and, students that want to get into, International schools or even elementary schools. Those parents are younger and they’re, they’re less knowledgeable about what is necessary to get their child in there and to succeed and if it’s the right place for the child to be.
So they’re really looking for advice, beyond just showing them the best schools they could get into and what it takes. Um, they want to know, is it the right decision? I, I hear that more and more. Um, And of course, that’s a difficult question because that’s in the end up to them, but I can help them understand what it might offer their child.
And so I spent time with that, but I still have the ones that are driven, um, and that come to me. And actually, maybe I have, once in a while, I actually have a family come in and say, well, we really would like to see our daughter go to medical school and attend MIT and I’d say, okay, what, what, how old is your daughter right now? Well, she’s four, you know, okay, well, that’s a ways off there, you know, and things do change. Children do grow and they will do what they want to do. But I said, you know, it’s not wrong to hope your child can, you know, accomplish something like that or experience that and go to the best institutions, but you might want to mix a little realism it.
Ivan Fedoroff: That’s great, because I was actually about to ask you, for families. How early is too early to think about planning? Um, coming up with a strategy for their kids going into the next school? Or is there such a thing as too early?
John Montgomery: Well, I think with these families I’m dealing with down at the lower end, um, I mean, because lower end, you mean age wise, age wise, yes. Um, you know, preschool that, well, there are, they already feel like it’s, they have to get going because kindergarten is coming very soon and you know, I’m telling them that they really ought to get their children into a kindergarten. An English language instruction, kindergarten or even preschool, if they want their child to go through a system that is an English, instruction program, because it, it becomes much more difficult if you wait and say, try to move your child over from a Japanese school. It’s been completely in Japanese. Um, At 4th grade or 5th grade, it’s very difficult because they have to have grade level proficiency. That’s what it takes and it becomes harder and harder the older they get and the less opportunities they have to develop their English. So in that sense they need to get going as early as they can.
But as far as talking about later on, yeah, you have them talk about that and but I think I’d say most of the Japanese are sensible, and you don’t hear them talking about MIT at four years old that often.
Ivan Fedoroff: It’s, it’s, funny you mention MIT. I’m sure, um, parents probably have a dream school for their child, or, kids, once, um, they reach a high school, they, they, they probably start to form, um, their own, preferences, but what are some things you think that families, parents, and, students alike, should try not to get baited into when it comes to schools? A lot of schools might have a little bit of smoke and mirrors, a little bit of eye candy, things to catch people’s attention to lure them into the school. What are some things that maybe families might pay too much attention to and really shouldn’t?
John Montgomery: Well, I don’t really Approach them in what they, in a kind of negative fashion, what not to look for. But I do talk about what they should look for. And that’s, you know, a school, especially if you’re talking about, um, elementary schools or K, well, even K-12, but, um, accreditation, you know, that, that the need, they hope that the school has some kind of, um, well known accreditation like WASC or CIS or, um, other ones. Um, the, the guarantee that that kind of accreditation gives as far as stability and, um, um, you know, teachers that are professional and a curriculum that is, viable and will, will build the skills they need is very important. And, and so they need to try to make sure that the school has something like that.
And then they need to, um, go there and visit it and see what it feels like. You know, the interaction between students and adults and how stable it looks and, um, and yes, What you’re talking about is maybe the schools offer on their website, great photos, you know, all of them do, and, um, great statements of philosophy or, um, mission statements, but you know, those can be written. And, um…
Ivan Fedoroff: They also start to sound, kind of the same as you go from website to website.
John Montgomery: Right. And so you, you, Um, and it, it is important to have statements of mission and a philosophy. A school needs to know why they’re there and what they’re trying to provide. But, and, and an accreditation will prove that they, they are following through.
That’s what the accreditation process does and when they get this kind of accreditation from these organizations. Um, but, they may say things about, their, their curricular program being really great, and you might have to be careful and, you know. Read that and ask questions about it to make sure that it really is as good as it sounds.
And if it fits your child. Because I tell them all the time if they’re applying to, their children are young and applying to a K-6 school or something, or a K-6 program, an elementary program or primary program. What they’re going to experience in any good program, whether it’s, um, PYP IB type of, um, related programs or just more of an American program or a Canadian program is, is pretty much the same things if it’s a stable school. They’re going there to, to learn to be away from their parents a little bit, to interact with other children, to listen to the teacher, to get excited about learning new things and playing with others, and beginning to start learning the basics for literacy and numeracy and, try art and other things.
And that’s going to be the same. Any of those schools, no matter what they’re, um, correct. Any basically good accredited elementary school will offer a program that deals with that as long as they’ve got professional teachers. So you want to know that first of all, and not whether it’s got this long history or beautiful architecture or something, you want to go and take a look.
Ask questions and don’t listen to gossip. That’s, that’s a difficult thing because people will tell you things that they’ve heard and it gets multiplied obviously. And, people’s prospective parents should ask, you know, the, the institution because you want to hear it straight and what’s, what’s honest.
Ivan Fedoroff: What changes in trends do you see in, education? , and, Over the last couple of years. And how do you think that’s changing your approach or shaping your approach in, consulting?
John Montgomery: Well, I mean, it depends on the level. If you’re talking about the younger students and the ones I’ve been talking about with K through six or K through 12, um, there’s this big movement with the Japanese to, to really upgrade their programs as far as having an international component. And, of course, the English language thing is always a challenge for the Japanese because the, you know, I don’t mean to be super critical, but the, the ministry of education is takes a long time for them to get moving on things and, and Japanese are getting impatient and tired and they want to see some movement there. And these schools are trying to answer that need. And so you see a lot of that where they’re trying to offer international curriculum.
Either they get on board with the IB with the primary years or the middle years program. Um, usually that that’s become very popular so that they offer something that their families can say, well, this is what everybody’s doing now. And it’s, it’s, what’s going to be necessary to, to give our children, the academic strengths and, to fit in the real world and, anywhere. And so that is a trend. And if it’s at the higher education, you’re seeing, um, well, the IB is very popular and it’s really made a huge, dent in the market, you know, because there’s there’s statistics out there that say that I B diploma graduates are getting in to the more competitive universities at much higher rates um, and better prepared your statements from so that and then, ever since Covid that the drive to get higher entrance level tests has certainly changed because many schools don’t require them anymore, or they’re, they’re, optional and they’re looking more holistically at the student, but it’s hard because you have huge numbers of applicants, especially to these competitive schools, and I don’t know how they choose.
Ivan Fedoroff: I think that that’s that was my follow up is, I mean, there needs to be some kind of, you know, metric. When I was in high school was all about the SAT scores and everyone was trying to score as high as the SAT score in your GPA. Those, those were the two and hopefully you that you can submit a good essay. How has that changed, especially when you have some schools that don’t give the typical grades anymore? Um, how do these schools measure, kids? It’s, I think, parents certainly would like to know and it seems like parents tend to talk to each other and there’s rumors and they start to believe each other of what’s more important. Um, what do you think is more important? How do you think these school are actually judging these applicants?
John Montgomery: Well, I mean, if you’re talking about the Japanese market, you have to help the Japanese understand that the American system, whether the SAT or ACT tests, yeah, are going to be considered, but they are optional these days and they are not valued at the same level as Japanese, Juken or, you know, entrance tests. They’re just simply not the most important factor. And you’ve got, they’ve got to understand that it’s a much more holistic, admissions process where you have five or six major factors from, um, Most of all, they have to understand that it’s the courses they took in high school and how they did. What their grades are, their transcripts, their GPA, um, and then what the teachers say about them and their recommendations and their statements on the transcripts. And their, as you said, the essays and community service work. All of that fits into the curriculum. A very complex picture that the admissions officers are putting together to, select a diverse, student body and, um, it’s very different than the Japanese one that was just based on testing, you know, so it’s hard for them to understand.
I think they understand it better than they used to, but, um, And it’s hard coming out of a system that promotes only that, right? Because where’s a Japanese student going to get that community service opportunity? , where are they going to get the training to, to, to write a good essay? Or, you know, it’s, it’s hard.
So, so a consultant would help with that.
Ivan Fedoroff: I suppose perhaps the best consultants probably would used to be English teachers. If, they’re trained. Because there’s, there’s probably some essay training and some, preparation, with that as well.
John Montgomery: But, I mean, the kind of essay that at least the American schools are looking for aren’t necessarily, you know, written by somebody who’s an English major or something.
You know, they, they really hope that they get something that really reveals something special about that student. So, of course they have to be well written, but, um. Consultants are all kinds of people.
Ivan Fedoroff: What can parents do to support their kids outside of the classroom?
So, um, obviously there’s, making sure that they do their homework, talk to the teachers, hire, and, you know, educational consultant, but, um, parents spend quite a bit of time with their kids. Well, some parents do.
What can they do, to best to best support them and so that maybe not necessary parental goals, but that at least the kids can have a higher success at reaching their own goals?
John Montgomery: In preparation for entering schools or universities?
Ivan Fedoroff: Yes, but perhaps there might also be some non traditional paths as well. So, of course, I’m sure most parents want them to go straight into college and go to the best college. But, um, you know, there are some cases where some students might want to do and, you know, take a year off or do, Perhaps, um, go into the arts or, they want to maybe work at the beginning, but I’m more thinking about if, a parent has hired a consultant and has, has, has, is on top of his homework and his or her homework. And, but, um, is there something that they can do that’s supportive? That’s that perhaps, You might find families that are just overlooking.
John Montgomery: Well, I do advise them on allow, you know, listening to their children and what their interests are and promoting them, you know, giving them opportunities to try those interests out. If it’s art, go to this summer program, at one of the schools that offers a program in the arts or music, or it’s an academic program. They’re interested in a kind of STEM program or a higher level physics, let them try. And, and, um, And, and, and even maybe some kind of, internship or something where they can find out what they like, what they don’t, and what they can get excited about.
And, um, and not just, um, talking about their grades and studying, of course they want to support them with, um, to make sure that they, um, do the best they can and are, um, without just, You know, yelling at them and telling them they better do it. And just helping give the provide an environment where they Feel motivated and that it’s that it’s the right thing to do their work and enjoy it and and be brave enough to ask the teacher for support when they need it and ask their parents for help. But to Be ready maybe to help them with a program in the summer or something that develops their interests Find out what they’re because that’s the only way they’re gonna find out before university Which direction they might want to go. Because I mean, 50 percent of all kids that apply to universities do not declare their majors. Because they just don’t have any idea yet. Which is okay. But, um, It’s nice to get going and try different things. So they can find out.
Ivan Fedoroff: What do you think, parents and even schools are just, you feel, are getting wrong when it comes to, the idea of, helping kids be, successful? And we don’t have to name, names, but, just, you have so much experience and you’ve, and you’ve seen so many, cases. Just, what do you feel like people are getting wrong? Or, the thinking might not be, the right way of looking at, student, student admissions?
John Montgomery: Well, not giving their children an opportunity to see what’s available with a kind of open mind, you know, and, and, um, and let them come to conclusions about what they might be interested in. Of course you can, the parent can be realistic and tell them, well, that’s going to be awful hard to find a career or awful hard to, um, What are you gonna do with that? You know that that’s okay, but and discuss it with them They’ll probably appreciate that but they need to listen and I hear that sometimes. Although not as much as I used to okay, so Yeah, I mean that’s always been the classic thing is if they’re telling them they can only go I heard that the other day You know a mom that had you know She’s going to start a, a Japanese mom is going to start a business in, in, in Texas actually. And then she, she, her son was going to an IB program and, um, here in Japan and he was applying to, he was having me help put a list together and he had a good list of schools that he thought interested. He had specific things he wanted, like a small school, um, and a good quality liberal arts and then all of a sudden she wanted him to be nearby her in Texas at 18, going into college after he’s proven himself as a decent student. I thought that’s, that’s difficult and that’s not going to work out well. And I told her, so, but I said, you know, and you can do whatever you want. He’s your child. But from my experience, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t recommend that.
Ivan Fedoroff: What’s the most rewarding part of being an educational consultant?
John Montgomery: Oh, it’s when you find out somebody gets into the schools of their choice and they’re so excited about it and often if it’s a long I’ve had them for a while like a few years and they’ve had a struggle and they They kind of grew up or it worked out and they came to a realization that these schools would really fit them and they actually got into them because I’ve seen that in a couple of situations where I had a boy that got kicked out of two, high schools that I helped him get into and I had to keep helping him get back into another one.
And in the end, he had lots of pressure to go to all these top engineering schools. And I, I, I said, I can’t get him into it. He’s been kicked out of two schools, but I might be able to get him into the University of California there, you know, maybe even Berkeley. And he got into Berkeley in the end. And I was so happy for him and his family, but it was, you know, that kind of struggle and I’ve had, you know, numbers of kids like that.
And that’s where you really earn your money when you’re doing it.
Ivan Fedoroff: Over the years. I’m sure, um, kids do they come back as adults and do they surprise you? Um, what is it like? Because I’m sure the first group of, of families, especially, students. Um, at this point they’re in their forties and fifties. So, does it surprise you at all? Or, um, do you see how the kind of impact that you’ve had on, you know, someone’s life years after?
John Montgomery: Oh, yeah. I’m very happy when I see that. And, and surprise me. I don’t know. I mean, it just, I had one the other day and it’s going to gra going to graduate from. Barnard Columbia and we worked hard to get her and I had her actually since she was Quite a bit younger all the way through high school and she just said over the phone the other day You changed everything for me, you know, and I’d say yeah, but you’re the one that got the grades You’re the one that went to school I’m glad I was there to help you with the choices and and some of the work you did but Yeah, I mean So that, yes, that’s very rewarding when you hear that kind of thing.
And, um, and I do see it because I’ve been in this one community and, you know, I’ve had some kids for, I worked with for quite a while. So they’re grown up and they come back and tell me nice things. And, yeah…
Ivan Fedoroff: If, if someone would be interested in doing the kind of work that, um, you do And, with all the experience you have and, the ups and downs. Um, what’s, what’s the advice you might give them?
John Montgomery: Well, work hard, be prepared, get as much time working with kids as you can. I mean, don’t be somebody that just thinks they’ve heard a lot about colleges and run out there and put a little sign up and say I can be a consultant because that’s just not going to work and it’s not professional.
But if you do think you have. You put the time in, and you’ve been working with kids for a long time, and you think you could help them, and you’re very interested in, in seeing them be successful. Um, just do your homework. I mean, you’ve got to know what’s available out there. Understand that all students are different, and that you have to, um, like that, I take for that organization.
You have to have that kind of commitment that you will not get sidetracked and do things cause you think they’re right because that may not be the best thing for the student and it’s not professional. I mean, you can, you have to come in some step in sometime and help them with reality because, you know, I’m sorry they got a 5 percent acceptance rate and You’re really not at that point where I think, but you can try it.
Of course you can. But so, you know, you have to be ready for all of that.
Ivan Fedoroff: Wise advice.
Ivan Fedoroff: Thank you so much. That was John Montgomery. Thank you so much, John.
John Montgomery: Yes. It was fun talking about it. Made me think of some things I hadn’t thought about in a while.
